Final #2: Six Monocular Depth Cues

Atmospheric Perspective

In the picture above, the area circled in red shows up somewhat fuzzy. This is because the graphics give the illusion of distance - closer objects appear clearer, while further away objects are less clear. You can see that the objects in close view have very sharp and clear qualities, while those objects in the distance (ie. the windows in the building) are fuzzier.

Lighting and Shading

This is a half-pipe that can be seen in the skate park in Cloud Party. The shading used gives it a 3D quality. The lighting appears to be coming from the left side of the screen and therefore the right sides of the half-pipe are shaded. 

Linear Perspective

These benches are given a 3D look through linear perspective. The lines on the left and right side seem to almost converge at a point in the distance. Up close to the viewer, the benches are wide, but the further away the viewer looks, the narrower the sides get, until they meet at the "vanishing point." 

Occlusion

This sign is blocking out certain objects in the distance (rocks, trees, and grass) which gives the viewer the impression that the sign is closer to us than the other objects which it blocks out. This is known as occlusion as the object in the foreground occludes, or blocks, out other objects. 

Texture Density

In this picture, the bricks in the floor appear to become denser as the distance from the viewer increases. Up close to the viewer, the bricks do not look to be that densely put together, but as the viewer looks farther away, the density appears to increase. This again, gives the viewer the feeling that it is a 3D image as the depth can be perceived through the floor's texture density.

Size Difference

The rocks in the back of the picture are slightly smaller than the rocks in the foreground. This monocular depth cue is known as size difference. Two objects that are the same size, one held 2 feet in front of a viewer and the other held 100 feet in front of a viewer, will look completely different to that person. The object 100 feet away from the viewer will look smaller than the object 2 feet away. Size difference is a good way to portray depth in an instance like this. 

All of the screenshots above are from my adventures at cloudparty.com. The monocular depth cues featured above all give the viewer the feeling that the picture has depth. This is a finals exercise from the Immersive Education course I am taking at Boston College.  The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics.  For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc.